Notifications on game controller

ABSTRACT

Implementations are provided that permit a seamless activation of a game or other application on a host device from a game controller. The game may be launched on the host device in response to an activation signal that is dispatched from the game controller. The game controller may generate the activation signal or it may send such a signal to the host device for processing. The game controller may detect that an action button has been pressed and generate the activation signal in response thereto.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/148,726, filed Oct. 1, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/308,771, filed Jun. 19, 2014, each of which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Game controller technology has generally been developed to complementgame system (e.g., a gaming console) or video game capabilities. Gamecontroller design has also morphed from simple rectangular shapes with adirectional pad and a few buttons to more ergonomic designs containingmore buttons, analog joysticks, as well as other features. Features suchas wireless connectivity, a speaker, a gyroscope, and a vibrationcapability have been added to various game controllers. Some controllersare capable of interfacing with a smartphone, tablet, and/or TV. Suchgame controllers are dependent on the host device to provide the gamingexperience. For example, a game console is typically connected to amonitor and a wireless controller may be utilized to interface withcontent provided by the game console. As another example, a gamecontroller may be utilized with a smartphone or tablet to manipulate orinterface with content provided on the tablet. Portable, or handheldconsoles, in comparison, do not have a physically separate gamecontroller that interfaces with them.

SUMMARY

According to an implementation, a process of a game controllercommunicatively coupled to a host device may receive an indication of anotification about a game that is not currently launched on the hostdevice. The game controller may include an action button and at leastone of a directional pad, an analog controller, a shoulder button, atrigger button, and/or a controller button. An indication that theaction button has been pressed may be received. An activation signal maybe dispatched to the host device in response to receiving the indicationthat the action button has been pressed. The activation signal may causethe host device to launch the game.

A device is disclosed in an implementation that includes an actionbutton and at least one of a directional pad, an analog controller, ashoulder button, a trigger button, and/or a controller button. Thedevice may include a communication module that communicatively couplesthe device to a host device. The device may include a processor that maybe configured to receive an indication of a notification about a gamethat is not currently launched on the host device. The processor mayreceive an indication that the action button has been pressed anddispatch an activation signal to the host device in response toreceiving the indication that the action button has been pressed. Theactivation signal may cause the host device to launch the game.

In an implementation, a processor of a game controller communicativelycoupled to a host device may receive an indication of a chat request.The game controller may include an action button and at least one of adirectional pad, an analog controller, a shoulder button, a triggerbutton, and/or a controller button. An indication may be received thatthe action button has been pressed. An activation signal may bedispatched to the host device in response to receiving the indicationthat the action button has been pressed. The activation signal may causethe host device to launch a chat message application.

In an implementation, a system according to the presently disclosedsubject matter includes a means for receiving, by a processor of a gamecontroller communicatively coupled to a host device, an indication of anotification about a game that is not currently launched on the hostdevice. The game controller may include an action button and at leastone of a directional pad, an analog controller, a shoulder button, atrigger button, and/or a controller button. The system may include ameans for receiving an indication that the action button has beenpressed and a means for dispatching an activation signal to the hostdevice in response to receiving the indication that the action buttonhas been pressed. The activation signal may cause the host device tolaunch the game.

Additional features, advantages, and implementations of the disclosedsubject matter may be set forth or apparent from consideration of thefollowing detailed description, drawings, and claims. Moreover, it is tobe understood that both the foregoing summary and the following detaileddescription provide examples of implementations and are intended toprovide further explanation without limiting the scope of the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosed subject matter, are incorporated in andconstitute a part of this specification. The drawings also illustrateimplementations of the disclosed subject matter and together with thedetailed description serve to explain the principles of implementationsof the disclosed subject matter. No attempt is made to show structuraldetails in more detail than may be necessary for a fundamentalunderstanding of the disclosed subject matter and various ways in whichit may be practiced.

FIG. 1 shows a computer according to an implementation of the disclosedsubject matter.

FIG. 2 shows a network configuration according to an implementation ofthe disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 3 is an example process for dispatching an activation signal to ahost device as disclosed herein.

FIG. 4 is an example of a game controller as disclosed herein.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a process performed by the game controller'shardware as disclosed herein.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a game controller device according to animplementation disclosed herein.

FIG. 7 is an example process to receive a chat request by a gamecontroller and dispatch an activation signal to a host device asdisclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A device and method are disclosed for a game controller that providesnotifications for a game invitation, a chat message, an indication thata user's high score has been beaten, or the like. The notification maybe provided by an audio and/or visual cue on the game controller. Thegame controller, in an implementation, may be utilized to activate oneor more host devices (e.g., a television monitor, a tablet, asmartphone, etc.) if the user presses an action button on the controlleror accepts the notification. In some configurations, a user may selectwhich host device will launch the application associated with thenotification. For example, if a television monitor and a tablet are inthe same room as the game controller, a user may elect to launch theapplication associated with the notification on the tablet and not thetelevision monitor in response to the notification received at the gamecontroller.

A user may accept a notification to pair the user's account with thespecific game controller. For example, information associated with theuser's account may be utilized to log a user directly into a video gameinstead of needing the user to manually enter a username and password.The game controller may include computer readable memory that may storeone or more user preferences for one or more users. Further, it maystore an indication of user account that is associated with a uniqueuser and more than one user account may be stored on the gamecontroller's memory. For example, a user's preferences may include gamespecific key bindings, host device settings (e.g., display brightness,volume, etc.), game controller settings, user information (e.g., username, password, etc.). Game controller settings may include, forexample, video/audio cue(s) associated with specific notifications orspecific instructions to perform in response to a received notification.The game controller may store a particular key combination that uniquelyidentifies the user as the one operating the controller. A user mayenter the key combination into the controller (e.g., a sequence of oneor more of an analog stick, a direction pad, a button, etc.) when theuser wishes to utilize features available only when the user is loggedinto the controller (e.g., automatically logging a user into a gamespecifically as a particular user). The game controller may utilize auser's account and/or preferences to automatically log a user into aparticular game.

The game controller may include a display that can augment thefunctionality of the controller. For example, the game controllerdisplay may show an image (e.g., an icon or avatar) of the sender ororiginator of the notification (e.g., a game invitation). In someconfigurations, the user of the game controller may switch host devicesutilizing a display. For example, a user may be prompted to select ahost device in the game controller's display. A selection of a hostdevice by the game controller may switch the display from one monitor toanother. Similarly, the source may be switched. A video game may beinstalled on two host devices such as a user's smartphone and a tabletconnected to television. If the smartphone is the default host deviceand the user selects the tablet from the game controller, the tablet maybe activated, the game launched thereon, and displayed on thetelevision.

According to an implementation, an example of which is provided in FIG.3, a processor of a game controller that is communicatively coupled to ahost device may receive an indication of a notification about a game orother application that is not currently launched on the host device at310. An example of a game controller as disclosed herein is shown inFIG. 4. In an implementation, the game controller may include an actionbutton 410 and at least one of a directional pad 420, an analogcontroller or joystick 430, a shoulder button 440, a trigger button 450,a gameplay button 460, and/or a controller button 470. The controllerbutton 470 may be associated with specific functions in the context of agaming platform. For example, a controller button 470 may be a “back”button or a “home” button that removes the user's last action ornavigation (for the “back” button) or navigates the user to a home pageor start location (for the “home” button). The controller may beassociated with a variety of hardware components and circuitry necessaryfor the operation of the buttons, analog controller, and directionalpad. It may contain, for example, a processor and a computer readablestorage medium. In some configurations, the controller may include adisplay, a speaker, a microphone, and one or more indicator lights. Thegame controller may be dependent upon a host device for interaction witha game, a web browser, a user interface. The game controller, forexample, may not be capable of displaying a video game in a display onthe game controller. If a display is incorporated in the gamecontroller, it may display features specific to the game controller(e.g., a saved file selection or user selection) or basic featuresrelated to a video game (e.g., a score, simple text message, a picture,a mini-game, etc.).

The game controller may be communicatively coupled to the host device.For example, the game controller may be paired or associated with thehost device by a variety of connection protocols such as USB, Bluetooth,Wi-Fi, etc. The host device may separately communicate with a networksuch as a home or local network by Wi-Fi or the like. For example, ifthe host device is off or otherwise not communicating with the networkor game controller, the game controller may receive data communicationsvia a direct or wireless connection to the network.

The host device may be, for example, a tablet, a smartphone, a TVconnected to a game system, etc. The host device may have the hardwareand software necessary to cause display of a video game, electronicinteraction (email, chat messaging, invitations, web browsing, etc.),and/or application upon execution of instructions stored on computerreadable media of the host device. The storage medium containing theinstructions for execution thereof may be connected to or associatedwith the host device. For example, a video game may be played byinserting a DVD (storage medium) into a game console (e.g., host device)and the game console in such a case may contain instructions about howto respond to and execute instructions contained on the DVD.

The game controller may be paired or associated with one or more hostdevices by initiating a scan from the host device. For example, a hostdevice may scan for compatible Bluetooth devices and detect a gamecontroller that is communicating over Bluetooth. The host device may aska user if the user would like to pair the game controller with the hostdevice. Once a user elects to pair or associate the game controller withthe host device, the host device may store an indication of the gamecontroller so that subsequent pairings may occur automatically orwithout requiring a prompt from a user. The game controller may store anindication of one or more host devices with which it has paired oncomputer readable memory. In some instances, a user may pair thecontroller to more than one host device. For example, a user may pairthe game controller with a tablet and separately with a game console. Inthe event that both devices are active, one of them may be designated asa master and the other a slave based on, for example, which one wasfirst paired with the game controller. The master device may be thedefault device with which the game controller pairs. A display on thecontroller may permit a user to toggle the pairing between the hostdevices. For example, upon powering on the game controller, it may pairwith the master device which can be a tablet. However, a user may selectfor the game controller to interact or pair with a slave device such asa game console connected to a monitor.

The indication of a notification about a game that is not currentlylaunched on the host device may refer to an audio and/or visual cueprovided by the game controller. For example, the notification may be agame invitation from a user's friend. The host device may receive aninvitation and dispatch the indication to the game controller or theinvitation may be received by the game controller's connection to theInternet. An indication of the notice may be, for example, a sound thatis played by a speaker on the game controller and/or illumination of oneor more LEDs. If the game controller contains a display, thenotification may be displayed therein. The indication of thenotification may persist until a user adopts an action related to thenotification with the game controller or with the host device. Forexample, if the notification is a game invitation and the user acceptsthe game invitation via a tablet (e.g., a host device), the indicationof the notification on the game controller may cease.

The notification may be about an application, such as a video game, thatis not currently launched on the host device. The game, however, may bestored in RAM or other transient memory of the host device. A game maybe deemed currently launched if the game is actively being played on thehost device and/or being displayed on the host device's monitor. Anapplication or video game that is loaded or stored in short term ortransient memory and not displayed on the host device's display or adisplay connected to the host device may be deemed as not currentlylaunched on the host device. The notification may indicate a leaderboardstatus change such as a user's high score on Game XYZ has been passed.If the user presses an action button, the game may be launched on thehost device so that the user may attempt to reclaim the leaderboardstatus. The notification may differ from typical communication between agame controller and a host device because it may contain an indicationor information about a specific game that is not currently launched onthe host device. For example, the notification may refer to a gameinvitation, a chat request for a specific game, or the like, which maynot be communicated as part of a wireless protocol or communicationbetween the game controller and the host device in lieu of such arequest being made.

Returning to FIG. 3, an indication that the action button has beenpressed or otherwise selected may be received at 320. The action buttonmay be a separate button as shown in the example of a game controllerprovided in FIG. 4. An action button may refer to a physical button, avirtual button (e.g., one that can be rendered on a touch screen), orother input capable of responding to the indication of the notification.In the example process shown in FIG. 3, the action button is a separatephysical button.

When this button is pressed, the processor may register the input andcommunicate an indication thereof to the host device. The communicationthat the action button has been pressed may be a command indicating asmuch or it may contain instructions for the host device. Thus, anactivation signal may be dispatched to the host device in response toreceiving the indication that the action button has been pressed at 330.The activation signal may cause the host device to launch an application(e.g., a video game). The game controller, for example, may containcomputer readable memory that may convert the combination of theindication of the notification and the indication of the action buttonbeing pressed into one or more instructions for the host device. Thenotification may be associated with an identifier for the application(e.g., video game) that is the origin of the invitation and/or anidentifier regarding the nature of the notification (e.g., a gameinvitation, a chat message, originator of the invitation, etc.).Computer readable memory of the game controller may contain a table, forexample, that contains each of the identifiers and correspondinginstructions for the game controller. The table may be dynamicallyupdated.

FIG. 5 provides an example process carried out by the game controller'shardware. Initially 510, the game controller may receive an indicationof a notification from a host device or over a wireless connection at520 as described earlier. In some configurations, the indication may beassociated with an identifier and the game controller may compare theidentifier to those present in a table to determine any instructionsthat may be executed at stage. For example, if the notification containsan identifier for Game XYZ and a second identifier for a gameinvitation, the processor of the game controller may determine that fora game invitation for Game XYZ requires a particular color and/or blinkpattern to be displayed using LEDs according to the user preferences ofthe user to whom the game invitation was sent. The indication of thenotification may be provided on the game controller at 530. In thisexample, LEDs may be illuminated in the specified color.

The game controller may determine whether a response has been receivedat 540. If no response has been received after a predetermined amount oftime, the game controller may be determined if the notification is stillvalid at 541. For example, the game controller may send confirmationsignal back to the host device or device that originated thenotification and await a response from that device. If the host deviceresponds that the notification is no longer valid (e.g., the gameinvitation has expired or the user accepted the invitation on a separatedevice), then the game controller may discontinue providing theindication of the notification. One or more responses may be received at545 and 547. For example, a user may accept a game invitation by brieflypressing (e.g., less than a three second press) the action button at545. A user may decline or dismiss the indication of the notification at547 by pressing the action button for an extended period of time (e.g.,greater than or equal to three seconds). Other forms of action buttonsmay be employed as well. An action button may be a virtual button on atouch-sensitive display on the game controller, a user may activate onevirtual button for one response and a second button for a differentresponse. For example, the notification may include or be theopportunity to engage in a chat message conversation with another user.The initial message may be received as a notification as describedherein and the user may respond to the chat message using a virtualkeyboard that appears on the display of the game controller.

The response, at least one identifier, and the indication of thenotification may be compared to a table containing instructions for oneor more responses for one or more applications (e.g., video games)and/or notifications or indications thereof. For example, if thenotification is a game invitation for Game XYZ and a user has acceptedthe invitation by briefly pressing the action button, the gamecontroller may generate an activation signal at 560. Generating theactivation signal may include identifying or selecting one or moreinstructions that are to be provided to the host device. In someconfigurations, the game controller may store a record of previously andcurrently connected host devices. The instructions may be customized fora particular host device. For example, a host device may utilize aparticular operating system that requires instructions to be formatted aspecific way. The activation signal may, for example, instruct the hostdevice to turn on or wake up if it is inactive, launch Game XYZ, andaccept the invitation to the game, thereby initiating gameplay with theappropriate parties for Game XYZ at 570. The game controller maydispatch the activation signal to the host device directly orindirectly. For example, if the host device and the game controller arepresent on the same network, the game controller may send the activationsignal to the host device indirectly through the network.

In an implementation, a device is provided such as the example shown inFIG. 6. The device may include an action button 610 and at least one ofa directional pad 621, an analog controller (e.g., joystick) 622, ashoulder button 623, a trigger button 624, a gameplay button 625, and/ora controller button 626. The device may include a communication module630 (e.g., a Wi-Fi chipset, a Bluetooth chipset, a USB chipset) that cancommunicate instructions to and from a host device. The action button610 of the controller may be a virtual button of a display of the devicein some configurations. The action button 610 may be associated with oneor more LEDs, a microphone, and/or a speaker. The device may include aprocessor 640 that is configured to receive an indication of anotification about a game that is not currently launched on the hostdevice as described earlier. The processor 640 may receive an indicationthat the action button has been pressed and dispatch an activationsignal to the host device. The activation signal may cause the hostdevice to launch the game or application that is related to thenotification.

In an implementation, an example of which is provided in FIG. 7, a gamecontroller's processor may receive an indication of a chat request at710. The game controller may be communicatively coupled to a host deviceas described earlier. The game controller may include firmware that, forexample, interprets key presses and/or signals received from the hostdevice. For example, if the game controller includes a vibrationcapability, during game play the game controller may receive a signal tovibrate the controller. The indication of the chat request may bereceived by the controller through, for example a communication module(e.g., a Bluetooth chipset). The chat request may be indicated on thegame controller with an audio and/or visual cue. The audio/video cue forthe chat request may be configured, for example based on the origin ofthe chat request (e.g., a different color LED may be utilized fordifferent users sending the chat request) and/or the application makingthe chat request. If the chat request is from Game XYZ from a user A,then a blue LED may be illuminated and two beeps may be emitted from thegame controller's speaker. If the chat request is from Game ABC and fromuser A, then a green LED may be illuminated and two beeps may beemitted. If the chat request is from Game ABC and from user B, then agreen LED may be illuminated and a single chime may be emitted.

An indication that the action button has been pressed may be received at720. The game controller may generate, based on the indication receivedfrom the host device and the action button being pressed, an activationsignal that communicates a response to the host device. The response,for example, may be to ignore or decline the chat request. Theactivation signal may be dispatched to the host device at 730. Theactivation signal may, for example, cause the host device to launch achat message application. For example, the chat request may haveoriginated from inside Game XYZ. The activation signal may cause thehost device to activate (e.g., wake up), launch Game XYZ, log a userinto Game XYZ using credentials stored on computer readable memory ofthe game controller, and open a chat window with the person whoinitiated the chat request.

Although various examples provided herein have been described and shownwith respect to specific notifications, such as a chat request, highscore notification, and the like, it will be understood that a similarprocess may be used for any other notification or request type asdisclosed herein. More generally, the devices and techniques disclosedherein may be used to provide any suitable notification from a gamesystem on a game controller as disclosed herein.

Implementations of the presently disclosed subject matter may beimplemented in and used with a variety of component and networkarchitectures. FIG. 1 is an example computer 20 suitable forimplementations of the presently disclosed subject matter. The computer20 includes a bus 21 which interconnects major components of thecomputer 20, such as a central processor 24, a memory 27 (typically RAM,but which may also include ROM, flash RAM, or the like), an input/outputcontroller 28, a user display 22, such as a display screen via a displayadapter, a user input interface 26, which may include one or morecontrollers and associated user input devices such as a keyboard, mouse,and the like, and may be closely coupled to the I/O controller 28, fixedstorage 23, such as a hard drive, flash storage, Fibre Channel network,SAN device, SCSI device, and the like, and a removable media component25 operative to control and receive an optical disk, flash drive, andthe like.

The bus 21 allows data communication between the central processor 24and the memory 27, which may include read-only memory (ROM) or flashmemory (neither shown), and random access memory (RAM) (not shown), aspreviously noted. The RAM is generally the main memory into which theoperating system and application programs are loaded. The ROM or flashmemory can contain, among other code, the Basic Input-Output system(BIOS) which controls basic hardware operation such as the interactionwith peripheral components. Applications resident with the computer 20are generally stored on and accessed via a computer readable medium,such as a hard disk drive (e.g., fixed storage 23), an optical drive,floppy disk, or other storage medium 25.

The fixed storage 23 may be integral with the computer 20 or may beseparate and accessed through other interfaces. A network interface 29may provide a direct connection to a remote server via a telephone link,to the Internet via an internet service provider (ISP), or a directconnection to a remote server via a direct network link to the Internetvia a POP (point of presence) or other technique. The network interface29 may provide such connection using wireless techniques, includingdigital cellular telephone connection, Cellular Digital Packet Data(CDPD) connection, digital satellite data connection or the like. Forexample, the network interface 29 may allow the computer to communicatewith other computers via one or more local, wide-area, or othernetworks, as shown in FIG. 2.

Many other devices or components (not shown) may be connected in asimilar manner (e.g., document scanners, digital cameras and so on).Conversely, all of the components shown in FIG. 1 need not be present topractice the present disclosure. The components can be interconnected indifferent ways from that shown. The operation of a computer such as thatshown in FIG. 1 is readily known in the art and is not discussed indetail in this application. Code to implement the present disclosure canbe stored in computer-readable storage media such as one or more of thememory 27, fixed storage 23, removable media 25, or on a remote storagelocation.

FIG. 2 shows an example network arrangement according to animplementation of the disclosed subject matter. One or more clients 10,11, such as local computers, smart phones, tablet computing devices, andthe like may connect to other devices via one or more networks 7. Thenetwork may be a local network, wide-area network, the Internet, or anyother suitable communication network or networks, and may be implementedon any suitable platform including wired and/or wireless networks. Theclients may communicate with one or more servers 13 and/or databases 15.The devices may be directly accessible by the clients 10, 11, or one ormore other devices may provide intermediary access such as where aserver 13 provides access to resources stored in a database 15. Theclients 10, 11 also may access remote platforms 17 or services providedby remote platforms 17 such as cloud computing arrangements andservices. The remote platform 17 may include one or more servers 13and/or databases 15.

More generally, various implementations of the presently disclosedsubject matter may include or be implemented in the form ofcomputer-implemented processes and apparatuses for practicing thoseprocesses. Implementations also may be implemented in the form of acomputer program product having computer program code containinginstructions implemented in non-transitory and/or tangible media, suchas floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, USB (universal serial bus)drives, or any other machine readable storage medium, wherein, when thecomputer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, thecomputer becomes an apparatus for practicing implementations of thedisclosed subject matter. Implementations also may be implemented in theform of computer program code, for example, whether stored in a storagemedium, loaded into and/or executed by a computer, or transmitted oversome transmission medium, such as over electrical wiring or cabling,through fiber optics, or via electromagnetic radiation, wherein when thecomputer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, thecomputer becomes an apparatus for practicing implementations of thedisclosed subject matter. When implemented on a general-purposemicroprocessor, the computer program code segments configure themicroprocessor to create specific logic circuits. In someconfigurations, a set of computer-readable instructions stored on acomputer-readable storage medium may be implemented by a general-purposeprocessor, which may transform the general-purpose processor or a devicecontaining the general-purpose processor into a special-purpose deviceconfigured to implement or carry out the instructions. Implementationsmay be implemented using hardware that may include a processor, such asa general purpose microprocessor and/or an Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC) that implements all or part of the techniquesaccording to implementations of the disclosed subject matter in hardwareand/or firmware. The processor may be coupled to memory, such as RAM,ROM, flash memory, a hard disk or any other device capable of storingelectronic information. The memory may store instructions adapted to beexecuted by the processor to perform the techniques according toimplementations of the disclosed subject matter.

In situations in which the implementations of the disclosed subjectmatter collect personal information about users, or may make use ofpersonal information, the users may be provided with an opportunity tocontrol whether programs or features collect user information (e.g., auser's provided input, a user's geographic location, and any othersimilar data associated with a user), or to control whether and/or howto receive data from a provider that may be more relevant to the user.In addition, certain data may be treated in one or more ways before itis stored or used, so that personally identifiable information isremoved. For example, a user's identity may be treated so that nopersonally identifiable information can be determined for the user, or auser's geographic location may be generalized where location informationis obtained (such as to a city, ZIP code, or state level), so that aparticular location of a user cannot be determined. Thus, the user mayhave control over how information is collected about the user and usedby systems disclosed herein.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific implementations. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit implementations of the disclosed subject matter to the preciseforms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in viewof the above teachings. The implementations were chosen and described inorder to explain the principles of implementations of the disclosedsubject matter and their practical applications, to thereby enableothers skilled in the art to utilize those implementations as well asvarious implementations with various modifications as may be suited tothe particular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving, by a processor of a game controller communicatively coupled to a host device, a notification about a game installed on the host device; causing an indicator light of the game controller to illuminate in a first indication configuration; determining that an action button on the game controller has not been pressed within a first predetermined amount of time and determining that the action button on the game controller has been pressed within a second predetermined amount of time, wherein pressing the action button on the game controller transmits a first activation signal to the host device that causes the first game to be launched on the host device; and inhibiting, based on the indication that the action button on the game controller has been pressed for the second predetermined amount of time, the indicator light from illuminating in the first indication configuration.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the notification is associated with the game that is not currently launched on the host device.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting a response to the host device that dismisses the notification based on the indication that the action button on the game controller has been pressed for the second predetermined amount of time.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determining whether the indicator light that is illuminating in the first indication configuration is valid by transmitting a confirmation signal to the host device regarding the notification; receiving a response from the host device that the notification is no longer valid; and inhibiting the indicator light from illuminating in the first indication configuration.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the notification comprises a game invitation and an image of a first originator, and wherein the image of the first originator is presented on a display of the game controller.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving an indication of a different host device; causing a prompt to be presented in a display that shows a representation of the host device and a representation of the different host device; and receiving a selection of the host device.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the game controller further comprises a display that is touch-sensitive and wherein the method further comprises receiving, by the display, an indication of the first activation signal.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first activation signal further causes the host device to be activated.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving an indication of a chat request; causing, based on the indication of the chat request, the indicator light to illuminate in a second indication configuration that is different than the first indication configuration; receiving an indication that the action button has been pressed at a second time; and transmitting, based on the action button being pressed at the second time, a second activation signal to the host device in response to receiving the indication that the action button has been pressed at the second time, wherein the second activation signal causes a chat message application to be launched on the host device.
 10. A controller device, comprising: an indicator light; an action button; a communication interface configured to communicatively couple the device to a host device; and a processor that: receives a notification about a game installed on the host device; causes an indicator light of the game controller to illuminate in a first indication configuration; determines that an action button on the game controller has not been pressed within a first predetermined amount of time and determines that the action button on the game controller has been pressed within a second predetermined amount of time, wherein pressing the action button on the game controller transmits a first activation signal to the host device that causes the first game to be launched on the host device; and inhibits, based on the indication that the action button on the game controller has been pressed for the second predetermined amount of time, the indicator light from illuminating in the first indication configuration.
 11. The controller device of claim 10, wherein the notification is associated with the game that is not currently launched on the host device.
 12. The controller device of claim 10, wherein the processor transmits a response to the host device that dismisses the notification based on the indication that the action button on the game controller has been pressed for the second predetermined amount of time.
 13. The controller device of claim 10, wherein the processor further: determines whether the indicator light that is illuminating in the first indication configuration is valid by transmitting a confirmation signal to the host device regarding the notification; receives a response from the host device that the notification is no longer valid; and inhibits the indicator light from illuminating in the first indication configuration.
 14. The controller device of claim 10, wherein the notification comprises a game invitation and an image of a first originator, and wherein the image of the first originator is presented on a display of the game controller.
 15. The controller device of claim 10, wherein the processor further: receives an indication of a different host device; causes a prompt to be presented in a display that shows a representation of the host device and a representation of the different host device; and receives a selection of the host device.
 16. The controller device of claim 10, further comprising a display that is touch-sensitive and wherein the processor further receives, by the display, an indication of the first activation signal.
 17. The controller device of claim 10, wherein the first activation signal further causes the host device to be activated.
 18. The controller device of claim 10, wherein the processor further: receives an indication of a chat request; causes, based on the indication of the chat request, the indicator light to illuminate in a second indication configuration that is different than the first indication configuration; receives an indication that the action button has been pressed at a second time; and transmits, based on the action button being pressed at the second time, a second activation signal to the host device in response to receiving the indication that the action button has been pressed at the second time, wherein the second activation signal causes a chat message application to be launched on the host device.
 19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor of a game controller communicatively coupled to a host device, a notification about a game installed on the host device; causing an indicator light of the game controller to illuminate in a first indication configuration; determining that an action button on the game controller has not been pressed within a first predetermined amount of time and determining that the action button on the game controller has been pressed within a second predetermined amount of time, wherein pressing the action button on the game controller transmits a first activation signal to the host device that causes the first game to be launched on the host device; and inhibiting, based on the indication that the action button on the game controller has been pressed for the second predetermined amount of time, the indicator light from illuminating in the first indication configuration. 